Fail: Saudi Arabia launches Girls Council without women. Photos of the first meeting of “The Qassim Girls Council” in Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia, show only men in attendance.

The Internet mocked the repressive regime after pictures of the Qassim Girls’ Council emerged online. The publicity photos promoting the event that was supposed to promote women’s rights in the backward kingdom feature no women at all.

Instead, photos of the first meeting of the “Girls Council” feature 13 robed men on a stage.

According to reports, women were kept in another room and only allowed to speak via video.

Saudi Arabia, where misogyny is the norm, and women are treated as property, has strict segregation laws regarding men and women.

In fact, in Saudi Arabia, women are second class citizens, treated more like children than adults. In Saudi Arabia, women are required to dress in black from head to toe, and they require permission from a male guardian to travel, work and/or marry.

Adding insult to injury, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which does not allow women to drive.

A backward, ugly, mean, and repressive regime, the Saudi kingdom gives out the death penalty for homosexuality, denies women the most basic human rights, and commits many other despicable human rights abuses.

In addition to the abysmal treatment of women and homosexuals, Saudi Arabia is a place where migrant workers are routinely tortured and sexually abused, while young children are frequently imprisoned, and even executed, without a trial.

In Saudi Arabia, atheists are considered terrorists, and atheism is prosecuted as a crime, with lengthy prison sentences or even the death penalty for anyone “calling for atheist thought” or “calling into question the fundamentals of Islam.”

In Saudi Arabia there is no political freedom, no religious freedom, no freedom of speech. It is, in fact, one of the most repressive regimes in the world, and an insult to human rights and human dignity.

Bottom line: A picture is worth a thousand words. And the image of the first meeting “The Qassim Girls Council” is all one needs to begin to understand the depth of misogyny and discrimination that permeates Saudi Arabia.

First Meeting Of Saudi Arabia’s New ‘Girls Council’ – 13 Robed Men On A Stage (Image via Twitter)